Despite a slight increase in domestic prices, export prices for most grades of rice remained
unchanged due to the weakening Thai baht. The increase in domestic prices reflected tight
exportable supplies as exporters are securing white rice for their outstanding contracts,
particularly for Iraq and Iran. In addition, the previous week’s tender of the old-crop
intervention stocks is not expected to ease domestic prices because rice quality is reportedly
not good for exports. However, current quotations remained unchanged in response to the
weakened Thai baht (at a three-month low of around 38.5 baht/U.S.$, compared to 37.9
baht/U.S.$ in the previous week).